The Neverending Cleaning Story...

I did more work on the back porch this morning. 

Then I came in and started cleaning the Fortunetelling Emporium.

Tessie was delighted.  She seldom tells fortunes. She has the gypsy from the Witches Warehouse come and do them. 

Actually, I am not sure that she even knows how to work a Ouija Board. 

I think that Spike is more adept at that skill.

She lets him do it and then she pretends to do it herself...

Spike is pretty good at it.  He predicted rain last night and it did rain for about eight minutes at one point.  I counted!

Anyway, Tessie always takes the credit for all of the predictions.

After all, her name is on the sign.  That's what counts. Nowhere does it say Fortune telling by a dog...

This morning I added another feeder to the  bird's spot. I put one of my hand made ceramic bowls on top of the table topped trunk. Then I added three of those little blocks of fruit and nuts that you get in the bird department at Walmart.

I don't think that is going to stay there long.  I looked out and all of the suet has already melted.  I either need a tent to put over it or it is going to have to be moved under the shade of the plants.  I don't think that the birds like runny suet. I haven't had one bird on there all day.

Oh well. It was a good try. Now I will try it elsewhere.

Back to work on Walter's bracelet now.

See you tomorrow.

Cornering Albert...

Is not going to be an easy job. 

He doesn't look anything like he did when the Terrible Two last saw him.

I got the tiniest knitting needles that I could find and started curling gray hair for Albert.  

He is no longer bald and he has "muscles". 

I think that he needs someone to mess his hair up a little more, but he is getting there.

He has been moving from place to place.  Hiding, whilst getting an idea where all of the good hiding places(from Tessie) are.

When this photo was taken he was hiding in Tessie's Fortune Telling booth.  I advised him to go elsewhere if he didn't want Tessie to find him.

Meanwhile, Tessie was back at Spike's place begging for help in her hunt, from Zar. 

He wants nothing to do with the whole mess. He's on Albert's side.  Hide from Tessie as long as you can.  He went through the same rigmarole
when he first came into existence and remembers it well.

She just doesn't give up... 

I took Albert over to the quilt shop.  She would never look for him there.  For the time being, he is safe. 

As soon as I get him dressed and with shoes, I will take him around and show him some good places to stay out of her way. Otherwise, she will find him in short order.

I am thinking that Hubert's Haberdashery would be a good place for him to stay in the daytime.  Now, all we need to do is find him a safe place to sleep.

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.

No Albert Today...

I have been getting ready for the Wednesday Witches Halloween bash tomorrow.

So have Tessie and some of the others...

She and Zar moved Madam Tessie's Fortune Telling booth to the dinning room. 

They have been sitting at that table all afternoon, telling each others fortunes with the Ouija Board.

None of it makes any sense. 

Both keep getting told that they are going to be very rich...

No bad fortunes.  All good.

I took a few photos of the Witch's Warehouse.

Poor Esmeralda. She has been hanging on for dear life for many years now.  Maybe I should take her down and put her inside somewhere to rest her weary bones...

No.  I didn't dust.  I never dust the warehouse.  It has been collecting dust for about 30 years.  Once in a while I sweep the floor and use a paintbrush to get the big pieces of dirt and refuse out, but it never gets all the way clean... It just wouldn't look right if it were spick and span.

I still have a lot to do to get ready.

Maybe I should at least oil the redwood table that it sits on. Back to work. 

See you tomorrow.

Never Trust a Witch and Her Cat Cohort

I moved  Tessie's Fortune Telling booth down to the top of the jewelry chest, where I could see it.  It was atop the seven foot bookcase and couldn't be seen at all.

Now I can enjoy it.

Tessie and Zar took it over immediately.  The Ouija board was spinning. I am not exactly sure whom they were contacting... but there was definitely something going on.

I did some more to the purse.  I finished the second flower.  Tessie kept pushing me to try it out... I hesitated.

She went and found Kota.  I could tell that they were cooking something up... Very nonchalant  about the whole thing. I think that he was giving her advice on how to get on my good side. Little do they know.  I don't have a good side. 

Anyway, I decided to go out and look for some new summer shirts. 

On the way back, I stopped at Civano Nursery. 

I never have trouble getting into trouble there.  I was trying not to, but Tessie found this succulent.  I have never seen this one bloom before. 

She bought it... with my money.  She said that she would pay me back... I am not holding my breath.

I am now the proud owner of one tiny pink flower.  Tessie, graciously, gave me the plant
that she bought with my money.

She is NOT going shopping with me again soon! That's enough of that!

Back to work. 

See you tomorrow.

Moving Monday....

OK.  I kicked the last of the party people out of Madam Tessie's this morning...Time to move on to something else.

I perched it atop the tall bookcase in the bedroom, along with a bunch of dragons and gargoyles to keep it safe.

Zofi refuses to leave...She's not paying rent and not getting any customers in this out of the way spot, so I don't know what is going to happen. 

Meanwhile, I moved Spike's Crypt down to the top of the jewelry/tool chest.  I kind of like it at eye level.  Now I can see all of the details that I couldn't when it was up on the bookcase.

Buffy and Spike went back to arguing and trying to kill each other there.  So things are back to normal...

Spike:"Here Buffy, I baked cookies.".  Sure he did.
Buffy: "Just set them on the table.  I wouldn't want to get blood on them when I try to kill you again..."

See?  Normal...

If you enlarge this one, You can see more of the detail. 

One of my favorite pieces is the little grim reaper toy on the second shelf.  A friend of mine sent him from England.  When you turn the little yellow handle on the side of the base, he swings the scythe back and forth...

I put one of the portable closet lights in the top to take the photos.  I really prefer it when it is dark and dank.

While I am thinking about it, I should tell you that this is another of the birdcages.

The outside front is all faux marble.  I did the front and sides with illustration board this time, so that I could take the marble all the way to the corners on the top. I won't go into the technique.  I have it in other entries.

I added regular molding on the top edge of the main wall to make it more substantial looking.

The corner posts are the birdcage itself.

The real reason I am showing this view is the roof.  People are always wanting different ways of making roof tile.  These slates are more of the illustration board.  I cut the tiles a bit larger than I wanted them to look so that I could overlap them. Then started at the bottom and worked up, just like regular shingles. After I got them all glued in place, I let the glue dry. Next I primed them with gesso and a stiff stencil brush.  Last, I painted them with charcoal gray Ceramcoat and a bit of shading with a little lighter gray here and there.

It just proves that you can work with whatever is at hand.  The trees on the outside of the building are made from branches of my rosemary bushes in the back yard.  Stripped of leaves(put in soup) and with railroad greenery added.

Anyway, now I can start on something else...Oh yeah....I forgot about the workroom...Workroom?  What workroom? 

See you tomorrow.

It's Time to Call it a Day......

The party's over....

I got up and finished the rug this morning.  I did the usual glue hem method that I use.  I simply smear white glue over the last rows on the edge, making sure that it covers a row or two of plain canvas.  Then I let it dry and trim it down.

I don't like rugs that are turned under.  Toooooo thick.

I still need to snip a few tails here and there, but otherwise it's done. 

Did I mention that I treated it so that it will be impervious to bug beer and other potions?  Let them spill their drinks.  I'm not worried.

Yes, that's bug beer that you see.  The weaver is a bit careless.  Not to worry.  The rug is fine.

How do I know?  As soon as I finished it and took the photos, Tessie grabbed it and shouted, "OK.  Party's over!  Everybody go home.  I need a nap!"

Then she proceeded to wrap herself in the rug and start snoring loudly. 

Since some of the attendees had already passed out or were close to it, I didn't bother to chase anybody out.  As long as they are quiet, they can stay where they are.

It was a good party, as Tessie's parties go.  No fights.  Just happy bug beer drinking and fortunetelling. 

I am not  cleaning up after this bunch.  Tessie can do that whenever she decides that she has had enough napping.  I am on to other pursuits. 

See you tomorrow...

"I Just Can't Wait Any Longer...."

That was Tessie about an hour ago... I made a mistake.  I put the signs on the side of the building before I finished the carpet...Bad move.

The sign was done on The Print Shop 15.  I simply did the lettering in a text box and added a frame.  Then I printed it on parchment paper.  After I cut it out, I added all of the gold with the same stuff that i did the front of the booth with earlier.

A party ensued as soon as the signs were in place.

Tessie was wandering around telling everyone that there would be two fortune tellers in residence for one day only....No waiting....Unless the junior fortuneteller disagreed with the head fortuneteller...Then....Well you know what happens when they disagree.  Poor Zofi.

You have to enlarge the first photo to see what the bottom says....It says, "your fortune is in your own hands".  Smart move on Tessie's part.  No guarantee that her predictions will come true if you screw it up yourself...

It only took about 15 minutes to found up everyone.  That included the time it took to get Zofi out of her spell.

I will probably add a few more things to the inside.  That can be done when I run across anything that has been hiding in the workroom.

As usual, it is getting louder as the morning goes on...I don't think it will stop any time before one or two in the morning....

Personally, I am going to close the bedroom door and let them carry on until they run down.

The workroom is on the other side of the house, so let them have their fun.

Who knows?  Maybe I will find a new project whilst rummaging around.

On second thought, I only have an hour or two of stitching left on the Gypsy rug.  Maybe I can find a quiet corner and finish that...

See you tomorrow.

So Much for Peace and Quiet...

When I woke up this morning, the Terrible Two were still sitting, staring at the Ouija Board...

I was still thinking about what table I wanted to use, so went into the dreaded workroom to see what else I had.

I found it!  And a very fast tutorial for you.

A round black lacquered table is just the thing and it fits better than any of the others.

It is one that I made when I was working on another project and, like this one, I changed my mind on what to use....I seem to do that a lot. 

Anyway, it's so simple.  The bottom is a black wooden lacquered chess piece with the top cut off horizontally.  Then I decided how big I wanted the top and cut out a circle from 3/32 bass wood.  I painted it black and put a coat of gloss varnish on it to match the base and glued it on.  That's it.

With smaller chess pieces, you can make various other side tables and stools.  All you have to do is find the chess set in a thrift shop, like I did.

While looking for tables, I got sidetracked and started cleaning....Yes.  I know it's hopeless, but it would be nice to be able to at least get to the desk in a straight line....No jumping over things to get there.

Then when I got there, I decided it would be nice to be able to find things on top of the desk.

By that time Tessie had come out of the coma and started her usual supervisory post...

The desk was about half cleaned off when I ran across my old tool roll.  I made this a number of years ago and it is very handy to have.  I take it when I want to do projects at other locations.

Here's how I did it....I think that I may have done an entry on this a long time ago, but it may be worth it to repeat it for some of you that didn't see it the first time around.

It doesn't have to be as elaborate as I made it.  You pick and choose the tools that you want to carry.

In my case, there is a pair of needle nose pliers, some small Fiskar squeeze handled scissors, wire cutters, a six inch ruler, a mechanical pencil, tweezers, glue, small fine scissors, a tape measure and a small notebook.

I simply cut out two pieces of fabric and a piece of quilt batting a little larger than all of the tools as they were lined up on it.  Then I cut the orange piece the same width, but a bit longer than the blue, so that, when doubled, it would hold the tools in place. (The pocket for the tape measure is separate and sits on the outside of the scissors pocket.)  



I did some embroidery on the outside to quilt the blue.  Then I folded the orange and did fancy stitches on it and hand stitched it to the blue so that it would hold all of the tools in place.



I laid the orange on top of the inside of the blue and secured it with pins.  Then I used the checked bias binding all around to hold it together.

I tacked on the center of a piece of ribbon that would wrap around twice and tie. 

As you can see, when it is rolled up, it makes a great place to take a nap.

I don't think that Tessie has quite gotten back to normal yet....I may try to tiptoe out of the workroom and let her sleep a while longer....I hear that forgetfulness powder takes a lot out of you....I wouldn't want to awaken her by banging things around in the workroom...I should go check on Zar...

See you tomorrow.

It Was An Accident....Honest!!

I finished the right side this morning.  Now all I have to do is make some signs to go on the outside walls...

I used to have to make all of my signs with hand lettering...I am thankful that somebody thought to add that kind of thing to computers.  Lots of fancy lettering almost instantly. 

As for the inside, all I have to do is finish the rug and I will go all out and do a draped table with a puddled bottom....I haven't done that before. It will be more fun than trying to make an even hem on a round table, for sure.

If I get to it and work on the rug, It should be finished in a few days...The draped table won't take long.

But....Tessie is already nagging to have it finished.  I don't think that this was her favorite project...Once done, it will probably be neglected.

The fascination will wear of quickly.  I know.  The Terrible Two look engrossed in the Ouija board right now, but that's because I accidentally spilled one of the bottles of forgetfulness powder on the floor.  It really was an accident.  I didn't get the stopper glued in well enough...

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I don't know how long it takes for that stuff to wear off, but I did spill the whole bottle.

It certainly is peaceful around here this morning.... Maybe I can get something done for a change.

Please don't sneak in and vacuum the rug when I'm not around.  Just let it wear off naturally...Please....

See you tomorrow.

Where's Zofi???

 At least I got an apology from Tessie for "disturbing the pieces".  Note the spelling...  Yes.  She was talking about the ruckus that she caused a couple of days ago, whilst throwing a hissy fit in my work room....

No offer to clean it up or compensate for the damage....Just a simple "Sorry about that."  Then she went on her merry way.  I guess I will be cleaning up after her, once again.

I have other things to put on the wall of the booth, but I needed a Phrenology chart, so I went to my handy dandy Bing images section....I am amazed at the number of different ones there are. There must be a lot of people that like reading bumps on heads.  Also interesting is the variations on what certain areas mean...

I printed one out for Junior  Tessie to use in the booth.  Don't ask....I haven't solved the mystery yet, but last night I looked in to see how it was going and....low and behold, Zofi and her gold table were nowhere to be seen!

Just now, when I typed Junior, Tessie stomped on my fingers and made me cross it out...

She then announced that she had paid a goodly amount and got back what was rightfully hers.

I didn't have the nerve to ask how much...She and Zar have spent the morning searching for ancestors with the Ouija board.  I am not sure what the purpose of that particular exercise is.  Rich relatives that may have left Tessie something to pay off the fortunetelling booth?

I am very pleased to report that the one thing that Zofi left behind is a success.  The Chinese lantern(metal) stuck to the book light(plastic) Is stuck fast and the light shines nicely through the silk panels.  I haven't installed it permanently yet, but it looks pretty good just as it is now.

Anyway, I don't have time to look for Zofi right now.  The kids are coming over for BBQ in a little while.  I will try finding her later.  I imagine that Tessie zapped her someplace to keep her quiet...Probably somewhere in the no man's land that I call a laughingly call a work room.

See you tomorrow.

Zofi! You Had Better Watch Out!

Not only is Tessie on the warpath....I think that I'm backing her up on this one...

Zofi found the gold leafing pen while I was sleeping...

When I got up, there was a strange purple light coming from my bedside table.....And there was Zofi, weilding the gold leafing pen on the base of the Chinese table...

It doesn't look bad in the photo, but in real life, the coat is uneven and the only thing that she didn't paint was the tabletop.

To add insult to injury, she left the cap off of the pen and now I don't have any gold leafing left that isn't brick hard.

Back to the strange purple light...I left a coffee cup on the table and Zofi put it to good use...Or maybe it was bad use.  I don't know yet.

She is pretty handy with a pair of pliers and Aleene's Jewelry glue.

She found one of my old chinese lanterns and proceeded to try to glue it to the book light.

Mind you, she had to tear it out of the booth, clamp it to my coffee cup and then get the glue on and the light in the right place before it all dried wrong.

I left it there.  I want to see if it works before I banish her back to the Witch's Warehouse.

She is now back inside with Mick, guarding the place.

She put my half finished rug under the newly painted table.  I do hope that the feet were dry.

She also found a copy of a Chinese snuff bottle that she seems to be thinking of using for a stand for one of her crystal balls...

I didn't tell her that she is being closely watched and may be zapped if she isn't careful.

Let her have her fun today....Later she just may pay the price!  The Terrible Two(and a half) are watching from above...

See you tomorrow.

Tessie Meets Her Match?

I permanently installed the front draperies this morning.

This is before all of the fancy work was added.  Awfully sedate.

Just wait....

I added a lot of the rayon ropes that I made and went through my jewelry findings for extras.  I tried beads, but didn't like them. 

This is what I ended up with.  Now for the inside....

That is what caused all of the ruckus this morning.

It seems that Junior thought that Tessie was going to spring for the interior fittings. 

Are you kidding?  The biggest skinflint in Arizona is not going to sell a shop and then come back and decorate for the new owner....We knew that there had to be a catch somewhere, when Tessie agreed to sell so easily.

There was almost a clawing and scratching argument before they were done.

Personally, I think that Junior was just lucky that Tessie didn't tear down the draperies and take them with her when she left.

About an hour later, Tessie reappeared.  Junior was ready for her.

It seems that Junior has been taking care of Mick, the jaguar that Tessie left to fend for himself when he got a bit testy with her one day.

Now he is Junior's guardian....No more Tessie.

I stood back and Zar had a ringside seat on the roof whilst the two went at it, once again.

I won't repeat all of the things that were said.  You don't want to hear that.

I will repeat Junior's final words though. 

It goes as follows...."OK.  I will pay for my own furniture and accessories, but the contract that we signed is null and void.  The establishment will, from this day forward be known as "Three Moons Fortunetelling".  Mick will be guarding the front door at all times....Sometimes he gets pretty hungry. Witches are his favorite food... And one other thing! STOP calling me Junior!  My given name is Zofi!"

I have never seen Tessie without an answer back before....However, she did turn to me and hiss...."Finish this quick!  I need a new project to run.  NOW!"

With that, she zapped away.  Zar and Spike disappeared at the same time.  I don't think that I want to go near my workroom for the rest of the day....I hear things being thrown around and feet being stomped.  I think I will tend to my knitting....

See you tomorrow.

Sold to the Highest Bidder....

This is the last of the curtains.  I pinned and sprayed it this morning.  With this one, the front opening curtains will be ready to install.

I decided that the front opening needed at least one panel that would calm the others down a bit.  After all, I haven't gotten to the trims yet...

I am still working diligently on the rug.

I am close to being done with the inner border....And I finished the second hat too.

I still have to make some decisions on furnishing...

However....The new owner may have something to say about that.

Tessie informed me late yesterday that she was "unloading the place".  She told me, "I have decided that I don't want to invest my time in reading tea leaves and stars and palms and bumps on people's heads...

Shortly thereafter, I caught her exchanging money for goods with Tessie Jr. 

Tessie got cash and gold pieces up front.  Junior has yet to get the deed...

I found out that there was an auction of sorts.  Zar was the other bidder.  It seems that was Tessie's way of getting a better price for the place.  He bid until Tessie gave him the signal and then dopped out when she was satisfied. 

It's OK though.  Junior is the niece of the also nameless straw into gold spinner at the top of the Witch's Warehouse.  I suspect that the gold will turn back to straw after a reasonable length of time.  Tessie had better spend it fast!

By the way. Notice the eerie light coming from overhead in the booth?  No magic involved.  I found a clip on book light with a bendable stem at Dollar Tree.  It is perfect.  Purple shade.  Clamps to the inside of the roof.  They claim that it will last for a year....Hey!  Not bad for a dollar.

I have to go chase Tessie down now and see if she will split the money with me for supplies and work....Probably not, but I can try, can't I?

See you tomorrow.

Busy Monday....

As usual, Monday is busy, but I had to stop and show you that the rug is going to fit. 

And the table is going to get painted, once again.  It keeps looking worse and worse.Or maybe we just need a different table...

One more curtain panel to go...

As for the rug, I am almost a quarter of the way around the outside now... I think that I am about half done...That's if you want to be realistic about it...

Each of the stripes have 10 stitches....It repeats every five rows...50 stitches a repeat...

I resisted up until I realized those numbers above...I counted....

Are you ready for this?  Stupid rug will have 10,275 stitches in all!  Right now, I have other things to do....Real life jumps out at me once in a while....I have to get back to work...

See you tomorrow.

Another Curtain Call....

This morning, my friend Joan came over for a few hours of minis...A good time was had by all.

She found a new doll mold at Michael's for a dollhouse sized lady.  You push the poly clay in the mold parts and then you are responsible for the back sculpting....That's the hard part.

Between the two of us, with her doing the work and me making silly suggestions, she got two parts finished.  At one point, she said it looked like a character from "Planet of the Apes".  Shortly after that I suggested that she turn it into Gargamel from the Smurfs, so she wouldn't have to put hair on the head.....That should give you some idea of how it was going...I guess you had to be there to understand what fun we were having...

Anyway, I got another curtain pinned, sprayed and fitted.  Hey!  That's progress!

I now have only one curtain to go!

Tessie was standing by and when I said that she could try it out, she couldn't wait.  She brought in a ringer.  The gypsy that has been telling fortunes in the Witches Warehouse since day one.

 Since the gypsy has never had a name, Tessie has been calling her "Junior".  The explanation? 

Tessie explained with, "If we call her junior, it will be easier to change the name of the place...It's much easier just to add "Jr." than to print a whole new name.

Personally, I think Tessie just wants to keep her name on the booth, even though someone else is doing all the fortunetelling.

Junior is in trouble already.  She flounced in.  Turned her back on Tessie and announced, "Hi Zar.  My name is Tessie Junior and I will be reading your palm today."  She totally ignored Tessie...Zar grinned a lot. 

I walked away.  I didn't want to see any of the bloodshed when things erupted.  I am now going to work on the last curtain, with the door closed.

See you tomorrow.

More Curtains, More Rug...What Else is New?

Still plugging along on the curtains.  While they dry, I work on the rug....Notice I said "I". 

The Terrible Two only show up when photos are being taken now.  They are both as bored as I am with all of these pins and needles. 

They can run away.  I can't.

The first thing I did this morning was change the top piece inside.

I definitely like the orangish red better than the dark purple.  I am still not sure about the tie dye either...

I unpinned the top of the right outside curtain from the pin board and realigned it in the pin board, so that the bottom of the curtain didn't have to be made separately.

This is another one of those "cheating to win" things.

When the top half of the curtains is on the straight of goods, if you bend it to fit the bend in the building, You can just keep going if you work it right.

I wanted this to be one long piece so that it would drape well.

I can't glue it in until I get a couple of other front pieces cut and pleated.  This one goes behind the others, but this is the one that will be the most noticeable.

Now that I know that this one works, the rest will be comparatively easy to do.  This is the only one that bends in the corner at an odd angle.

I still have to pin and spray the puddle at the bottom.

I have been going back in time and watching Jennifer Garner in "Alias" on Netflix whilst I work this morning....Lots of dialog, and in English, so I can follow what is going on without much looking at the screen.

While the curtains dried, I got lots more of the rug done.  All of the gold in the motifs is finished and I am almost up to half the background.

I also cleaned the stove and several drawers in the kitchen....And....It's not even noon!  That's what I get for getting up at 4:30AM.  I think I deserve a nice afternoon nap now....

See you tomorrow.